A few months back I was chatting with someone at a party. I said I was organising a 60th for a friend (group of 6 of us..been pals for over 20 years)..the birthday gal loves quilting, golf, and Scotland. When I mentioned that I'd be making a Scottish cake, Poppy said "I've an old Scottish cookbook. You can have it if you want."

!!!

Am now the proud owner of "The Scottish Cookery Book ~ The Classic Guide to All That's Best in Scottish Fare." First published 1956..

A Baemar cake I'm making ~ interesting that it calls for rosewater. Cooking for almost 4 hours.

Might give the haggis a go The first sentence of the recipe:

"If you wish to be initiated into the mysteries of a haggis, take the stomach bag of a sheep." Well, of course you do!

Another recipe calls for a walnut of butter.

And the joy of reading the section "For Invalids"

"As I feel no cookery book is complete without catering for the sick as well as the hale, I am including a few recipes of the the sick room that I follow myself."

best check on the cake!_________________"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

Oh my -- that book could be from 1856 !?
I suppose "comfort food" is what sick people get now--along with all the stressed-out well people who just need comforting.
Is it like a fruitcake? I can't find Baemar cake in Google--I hope you remembered to mix in the buttersworth of walnuts!

was born in 1883. she has long been regarded as the doyenne of British cookery writers, and contributed a cookery column to Woman's Journal on its birthday issue in 1926.

She now lives near Slough."

Well, she used to...1980 she died..aged 97.

Can't find a photo..however came across this..part of an article about Margaret Fulton..here, "she points out that her food hero, the great Scottish food writer Elizabeth Craig, was still writing at 90. "There's a wonderful story from near the end of her lying in a hospital bed with, I think, a broken hip and her publishers suggesting that someone else should finish her next book. She told them they were being ridiculous, had her filing cabinets wheeled in and finished the book herself.""

via cyberspace..a slice of cake_________________"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

Hello Madame! For your Scottish consideration: clootie dumpling. The name alone is enough for me to love it. It's a kind of steamed pudding, not unlike a "plum" pudding. The filling is piled into the center of a linen cloth (a "cloot"), the ends gathered up and tied so that the whole thing looks like a linen wrapped ball. Then it's lowered into a pot to steam away for several hours.

Clootie dumpling can still be found in Scotland, particularly rural areas. Apparently, there are endless (contemporary) variations. We first encountered it at a friends' restaurant in Invernesshire. Should you like a recipe, let me know. I'll search among my kilts and woolies and find a wee one for you.

Uh...why am I talking like this? Not even Scottish...(just wishful thinking...) _________________So far, so good.

Clootie dumpling sounds like the solution to my steamed pudding problems. I love them but don't have my own mold, have been eyeing the molds for years but haven't felt like making the investment.

Several years back, we were walking along in NYC when my daughter spotted a book in the middle of the street up ahead. It was a fine old copy of the Pioneer Cookbook. She pored over it and read from it aloud for seemingly ages and still pulls it off the shelf from time to time.

Gingerpale, you're right about people needing more comfort nowadays. Do you think we've gotten soft? I often wonder how stress in modern life compares to stress, say, 200 years ago.

sweetbabyjames...i apologize...i was certain i had a clootie dumpling recipe in at least one of my books, but i can't find one anywhere. however, if you Google "clootie dumpling", you'll find more info than you'll ever want or need. it looks as if the hard part was simply learning that something called a clootie dumpling exists! from now on...piece of cake (or dumpling)..._________________So far, so good.

sweetbabyjames, regarding stress--actually it's probably pretty subjective--doctors without borders don't commit suicide, but successful fashion designers (and doctors?) do.
"The smallest pain in our little finger gives us more concern than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings." That's an oldie quote, but I've always remembered it because it's so true--it's okay though, that's just self-preservation at work!
The other day I was complaining about not being able to cook as much as I'd like--with just the 2 of us to cook for (and he's no foodie) I can't experiment and play. I was truly a little jealous/bitter/annoyed about this, and someone suggested I find an elderly, lonely neighbor. And I thought "Wait a minute--I AM the elderly lonely neighbor--that was my whole point!"
So maybe it's all relative..

Returning to the thread topic-- "old cookbooks"--
I have a few copies of some charming old ones, which are fun.
But the oldest *authentic* one on the shelf is probably "A Treasury of Great Recipes" by Mary and Vincent Price. (Yes, the old movie guy V. Price--he was a traveler/foodie too)
From 1965, the book shows pictures and restaurant menus and recipes from places (France Italy Spain England Holland Mexico USA) that he and his wife enjoyed. The "Food Halls" @ Harrods, Mexican canapes, lots of variety -- I know it's old fashioned but it sure is fun to look through!
It shows clearly that "everything old is new again" or soon will be.

Here the topic is old cookbooks. But "old" is very relative. So far we've been talking about books from the mid-20th century. But for somebody like me, who has (and uses) actual cookbooks and facsimiles dating to the 1600s, 1956 isn't very old at all.

I remember when the Vincent Price book was published, and the furor surrounding it----as though, somehow, people who had achieved success in one field couldn't be knowledgeable in another. The word "foodie" hadn't appeared as yet, but he and his wife certainly were foodies of the first order.

To me, what made the Price book special, was that it appeared when convenience foods and woman's magazine cooking were at their height. All of a sudden comes a book dealing with real food and ingredients, flying solidly in the face of "modern" trends. I've seen many of Vincent's recipes through the years, and none of them include a can of cream of whatever soup.

My own favorite from that time period is The Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages. Yes, that's the title, not the first chapter. If anyone is looking for an introduction to food history, I suggest finding a copy of it.

I have several from the turn of the last century (packed away very carefully) and a copy of the second edition of Joy of Cooking--a wedding present to my parents. My mom stashed her recipes clipped from magazines or copied onto envelopes in there. It's interesting to see how food trends are completing the circle--going back to making more scratch foods, trying to slow down. *sigh*_________________"Food is an important part of a balanced diet..." Fran Leibowitz

Quite a few years back a friend of mine had an idea for a business to be called Rescued Recipes. The idea was that all those collections from moms, aunts, grandmothers, etc. would be typed up in a new booklet. That way, the old ones could be kept safe, as a momento, but you'd still have use of them.

Unfortunately she never followed up on the idea. But with modern computer programs it should be a fairly easy task.

I agree with "everything is relative"
after reading this post, I had a look at my cookbooks library and found "Italian Food" by Elizabeth David - 1966 and "the French Chef Cookbook" by Julia Child - 1968
BUT it never occured to me to think of those as old !
however , I found some quaint recipes in a handbook for Girl Guides dating back to 1924
here's an excerpt :

Quote:

"Vegetables ; of vegetables I should like to say they can scarcely be too much cooked. Wash well in salted water [...] Excellent food for workers are parsnips, beetroots or onions."

I like that one too :
"Fish : a most unwholesome food is stale fish. The gills, if fresh, should be bright red. Tinned fish is often poisonous. "

My favorite old(ish) cookbook is The Carter Family Favorites Cookbook, published in 1977. (Carter as it Jimmy and Rosalyn, not the musical Carter family!) A number of peanut recipes, as you can imagine, but also some great cobblers, etc. You can pick it up used on eBay._________________Cathy
www.whatwouldcathyeat.com

I have a slightly tattered 1913 edition of "The Priscilla Cook Book for Everyday Housewives" --a collection of recipes compiled from the modern Priscilla with Menus for Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners and Special Occasions edited by FANNIE MERRITT FARMER, Price 25 CENTS, published by The Priscilla Publishing Company, 85 Broad Street, Boston, Mass.

It includes pages on School Lunches and even one on "Sick Room Cookery".

All in all quite fascinating!!_________________Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

It is not as old as some of the books listed here, but I do have a copy of Esquire's Handbook for Hosts copywrighted in 1949. The interesting thing is it's coverage of how a man can correctly entertain.... from the setting of the plates, choice of linens, and setting a cigarette at each place! Something we wouldn't imagine doing now. One of my favorite passages is that throughout history men have been the better cooks. They suggest that a man will accomplish nothing competing with women on a daily basis, where food is prepaired as a necessity. They should have a few exceptional dishes reserved for only the most special occasions, where their prowess can shine. TOO FUNNY! There are even sections on cooking wild game, stocking a liquor cabinet, and entertaining after the meal. I love to see how time has treated some of the norms.